Dropping just one point in its weekend trip to No. 7 Cal and No. 21 Stanford, No. 27 NC State women’s tennis proved its recent drop in the ITA rankings had no basis in reality.
After No. 60 senior Anna Zyryanova fell on the singles courts in the Friday match versus Cal, the Pack (9-4) secured seven straight points en route to dominations of the Golden Bears (5-1) and the Cardinal (6-5). These results came after NC State dropped from the Feb. 11 ranking of No. 8 to No. 27 on Feb. 19, as it lost four of five matches in that stretch, with all five matchups being against top-10 teams.
No. 7 Cal 4-1
Sweeping on the doubles courts, NC State got out to an early 1-0 lead. The No. 4 ranked pairing of junior Gabriella Broadfoot and freshman Victoria Osuigwe battled to a 7-5 win over Cal’s Mao Mushika and Johanne Svendsen on Court 1. On Courts 2 and 3, No. 29 junior Jasmine Conway and Zyryanova won 6-4, and freshman Lavinia Tanasie and sophomore Mia Slama made quick work, winning 6-1.
After Zyryanova fell on Court 3 to No. 55 Mushika 6-2, 7-5, the Pack swept Courts 4 through 6 in dominant fashion. No. 106 Conway picked up the first singles win in straight sets 7-6, 6-4 defeating Cal’s Anya Murthy. Then, No. 2 2025 recruit Osuigwe picked up the win on Court 5 versus Mille Johanna Moerk 6-4, 7-6. To finish it out, No. 28 Tanasie blanked Laura Cilekova in the final set after dropping the Set 2 tiebreak which prolonged the match.
On Courts 1 and 2, No. 31 Slama and No. 38 Broadfoot were in three-set battles and both had solid footing, but did not finish their matches as the Pack closed it out on the back courts.
No. 21 Stanford 4-0
The Pack took a very similar route to victory over Stanford, winning the doubles point and taking Courts 4 through 6.
Broadfoot and Osuigwe took on reigning ACC Co-Doubles Team of the Week in Monika Ekstrand and Caroline Driscoll, and came out on top in their battle 7-6. Conway and Zyryanova fell 6-4 on Court 2, but Slama and Tanasie dominated 6-1 to put the Pack ahead.
On Courts 1 through 3, Broadfoot, Slama and Zyryanova were in tightly contested matches with Stanford’s best. All three dropped their first sets, but battled back in the second as Broadfoot forced a third set versus No. 29 Alyssa Ahn and Slama extended the match versus No. 62 Monika Ekstrand.
Meanwhile, on the lower courts, the Pack dropped a total of eight games as Osuigwe, Conway and Tanasie won in straight sets, making quick work of the Cardinal, securing NC State’s fifth ranked win this season.
After a month-long road trip, the Pack will play its first home match since Jan. 27 as it hosts Florida State March 6 at 2 p.m.